I've talked with a bunch of people who have it. While some of their 'demo' applications work beautifully well.

Once you get over that initial bundled game and app. You quickly realize how limited it is.Not because of the device. But the lack of support that exists right now and the limited functionality it has in a real world setting.

I think it has a potential to be a great device. However I still think its a year or 2 away. Chicken and egg problem? People unsure how to apply it in truly useful settings?

Maybe it will combine with the oculus rift in a neat way? Or some other thing. Even with support. despite its awesomeness, I lack the imagination to see how it'd be greatly beneficial at the moment.

My question to you, what would you use it for? games? an app? (which one? and in what ways?)

As a motion-detecting device, the functionality (and price) looks to be pretty amazing. But like namrog said most games can't be fully enjoyed with just hand gestures. I mean, they showed some Half-Life 2, but honestly would you rather "pinch" to shoot or click?

....most games can't be fully enjoyed with just hand gestures. I mean, they showed some Half-Life 2, but honestly would you rather "pinch" to shoot or click?

That's true. But with the LEAP you could pretend to move a mouse and click but not actually hold a mouse, and press WASD on an imaginary keyboard which is actually just your desk, and the LEAP should detect the fingers that you're moving as being like a mouse move, and the finger tapping on your desk as being move and/or fire. No mouse or keyboard needed. Plus it opens up a whole slew of other cool things you could do.

Also, for people who are not used to the mouse + keyboard (WASD) combo, shooter games are hard to learn. I remember being uncoordinated at that for a long time when trying to play doom and half life. Maybe they can figure out a better way to control an avatar in 3D space without the mouse for looking and keys for walking.

Mouse clicks provide tactile feedback, as does pushing the mouse itself around, as the mouse itself provides a stable reference point for relative motion. Then there's the really important part about no one wanting to hold their hand still in the air for any extended amount of time. The Leap Motion might have a lot of neat applications, but as a game controller, I'm still not seeing it.

Mouse clicks provide tactile feedback, as does pushing the mouse itself around, as the mouse itself provides a stable reference point for relative motion. Then there's the really important part about no one wanting to hold their hand still in the air for any extended amount of time. The Leap Motion might have a lot of neat applications, but as a game controller, I'm still not seeing it.

I think your point about the mouse being tactile and a reference point were the same arguments used for why smart phones should have tactile key pads with key buttons, but now everyone has glass flat screens on mobiles, not tactile real keys. Moving your finger/hand and tapping on a desk would seem just as natural moving a mouse if you were used to it i think.But yes I agree that holding your hand in the air would be tiring. But if your arm/hand rested on a desk it would be ok. It'll be interesting to what different configurations of controllers/gestures they can make with this motion detector

but now everyone has glass flat screens on mobiles, not tactile real keys.

Don't confuse the shortcoming of a particular technology with customer wants. Input on a touch screen, especially ones in the sub tablet sized footprint, is far from ideal when you have to do precise actions. Pinch, zoom, and swipe are well suited to coarse manipulations since in most cases you, but activities that require input to be at a specific point on the screen, such as typing, are hindered by the fact that a users fingers obscure the important UI target areas leaving them with no way to see what they're doing. There are companies working on this problem. If there solution proves to b fruitful, it would provide the best of both worlds.

Closer to the point of the topic, I've always seen "full body" motion control as a bad thing in games. The purpose of playing a game, at least for me, is to transcend physical limitations. That goes out the window when I'm required to "run" a mile in the real world to move my avatar a mile in the virtual world. Even beyond the "being lazy" factor, it would seem to potentially exclude a segment of the game playing population based on being able bodied or not. Overall there is a lot of potential and exciting development in the fields of motion control and virtual reality; I'm just not sure that it's the future of gaming though.

Arthur: Are all men from the future loud-mouthed braggarts?Ash: Nope. Just me baby...Just me.

So my friend got one yesterday and I got to try it out for the first time ever. He got with the intention of playing with the SDK and trying to release a game or app to the leap motion app store.

I was slightly unimpressed with certain aspects. Certain movements worked really well. Like side to side/updown directional pointing.

However if you have to move your hand forward/backwards for things, often you will go off target.Additionally, if you try to pinch something, you often go slightly off target.Both of these are my own human's fault, not the device's fault as it registers my position accurately. Humans just aren't meant to have free floating in mid air precision. We have high dexterity with hands and wrists, but when you involve an elbow and shoulder, all precision goes out the window.

I think ultimately the fault will rest in the humans for being to unable to deliver the right kind of precision in the right areas.However for 'rough' or coarse movements. It works beautifully. The 3 finger swipe to switch tabs or scroll pages all work just fine.However for general course movements, do you know a $50-80 device? Probably not.

I personally think that this device could be dropped in price to less than $20 and incorporated into computers/monitors or whatever as a secondary or third controller. That it could have a little use on occasion. However, I don't think it'll ever be a 'primary device' controller.

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